Me Monday: Cars

Ugh. Cars. I love them and I hate them. 

This week has been a near constant battle with my truck. It started when I drove home from playing D&D in person for the first time in four months (we wore masks while playing, it was weird but fun). When I got close to home, I could smell something burning from the engine. I took a look, but didn't see anything, but I noticed that the engine was running a little rough at idle. 

So a couple days go by with no problem. Then, I go to the grocery store on Wednesday to pick up a few things and as I'm pulling out, the Check Engine light comes on and the power steering and air conditioning goes out. Great! I pull into a spot and check the engine and immediately notice that the serpentine belt is broken. Alright then, at least I know what the problem is now. I can fix that.

I call a friend and borrow her car and go to Autozone to get a belt and back home to get my tools, then I change the serpentine belt in the grocery store parking lot. Truck's fixed, I'm happy, all's good. 

Next day, I go driving again and I can smell that burnt smell again. Then the A/C goes out again. It's over 100 degrees outside, A/C is a must. I look again at the engine. The new belt seems a little loose, and the engine coolant seems a little low. So I make another trip to Autozone, pick up a new belt tensioner, some coolant, and a can of freon to top off the A/C if that is the problem. I go back home and spend an hour getting all that stuff done. Take it out for a test drive and all seems well for about ten minutes before the A/C goes out again.
Now I'm getting frustrated. I love working on cars when I know the problem. I love fixing stuff. It's nice having something broken and then just replacing a part or two and you've repaired it. Makes me feel good. 

However, I hate something being broke and me not knowing what the problem is , not knowing how to fix it. It makes me a little crazy. So I spent all day trying to figure out what the deal was before I noticed that the A/C pulley was not spinning like it should. I grabbed it and was able to wiggle it with my hand. The compressor is locked up, the rubber spacers between the pulley and the compressor broke and melted (that's what I smelled earlier). It's going to be kind of a pricey fix, but at least I know what the problem is, so I'm happy about that. 

I bypassed the A/C so that we could still use the truck without A/C and took it to a shop where they could pull out all the freon from the lines. Ordered a new compressor and now I'm just waiting for it to come in so that I can swap them out. It's a job that I've never done before, but I'm pretty sure I can. 

I didn't learn how to work on cars much when I was young. My dad was always out working on ours, trying to keep it running, and I'd occasionally get under there with him, learning the basics ("righty-tighty, lefty-loosey," and "if at first you don't succeed, just yell 'fuck' a few times and try again.") But I really didn't start learning about cars until after my dad had passed away and I was broke and needed to keep the car running as cheaply as possible. 

Every time I work on a car, I think about my dad. Maybe that's another reason why I enjoy working on them. I miss him and I hope he'd be proud of me. 

Anyway, that's all for today. The image I included is one that I was just working on (from Chapter 3). Hope you all have a great day!